UPIKE's New Health Professions Building Breaks Ground

On Friday, May 16, officials gathered together for a groundbreaking ceremony for the Health Professions Building, which will house the university’s Kentucky College of Optometry. Those in attendance included Joe Ellis O.D. with Kentucky Optometric Association and American Optometric Association and member of UPike’s Board of Trustees. He said the school not only will provide opportunities for the students, but also addresses the need of eye care in the region. “We have some great opportunities here and there is also a great need across the Commonwealth of Kentucky and all across the country,” Ellis said. University of Pikeville President James Hurley asked the audience to take a few moments and listen to their surroundings. During the moment, Hurley said he heard the laughter of children in the Pikeville City Park. He said as the university dedicates the Health Professions Building they should think of the future of the university and the impact and legacy the university will have on those children and the region in the future. “So, as we dedicate this building and as we think about the future of the University of Pikeville we should think about all those children that are down there in that park that will someday be students at this institution,” Hurley said. “Burlin (Coleman) and I often talk about carrying the torch of legacy beyond our days. So we may not fully understand the impact this college of optometry, the college of osteopathic medicine, the college of arts and science, the Coleman College of Business will have on this region in our lifetime.”
State Representative Leslie Combs, Senator Ray Jones, Pike County Judge-Executive Wayne T. Rutherford, and Pikeville Mayor Pro-Tem Jimmy Carter also attended the event.
News-Express photo by Elizabeth Thompson.